


Come Home Early

by PoetsReach



Category: Numb3rs (TV)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-22
Updated: 2018-09-22
Packaged: 2019-07-15 17:16:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16067675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoetsReach/pseuds/PoetsReach
Summary: A case hits closer to home than the team ever thought possible.An alternate time line for devo79's Equal Rights series.





	Come Home Early

**Author's Note:**

  * For [devo79](https://archiveofourown.org/users/devo79/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Equal rights](https://archiveofourown.org/works/384205) by [devo79](https://archiveofourown.org/users/devo79/pseuds/devo79). 



Don sighed as he hung up the phone. “Damn it!”

Megan and David looked up from where they had been poring over the evidence. David tensed as Megan said what they were both thinking. “Don’t tell me we have another one.”

“Then I won't tell you.”

“Damn it! It’s too soon! There’s usually more time between.” David put his head in his hands as he sat back in his chair.

Megan sighed. “Should I call Colby back in or let him sleep?”

Don rubbed his face with both hands. “Call him in. This one he left alive, thank god. Colby is good with this community, we’ll need him. He can meet us there.”

——————————————-

“Shit.”

Don glanced at Megan as he turned a corner on the way to the scene. “He still not answering?”

“It just keeps going to voicemail. We'll just have to bring him in later.”

——————————————-

“Hay, isn't that Colby’s car?” 

Don looked at the car Megan was pointing to. It did look like Colby’s car. “Maybe he got your message. I think he lives somewhere around here.” That didn’t seem right though, the car was inside of the crime tape, parked in the driveway. Might just be a coincidence then. 

Don pulled up to the curb and they both stepped out, David pulled up behind them and joined them on the front walk. They were quiet as they walked in the open door and were met by a local cop, obviously pale and shaken. “The partner and son are in through there. Neither of them are saying much. The partner hasn’t said anything since we stopped him from going in the ambulance. Can’t say I blame him, I’d want to be with my wife if it was me to… The kid… The kid was the one who found the victim. He caught the guy in the act.” He looked further into the house, toward the father and son. “Probably saved his dad’s life, but seeing that.” He shuddered. 

Don gave him a pat to the side of the shoulder. “Yeah, I know. But he’s alive and that’s an improvement on what has happened to everyone else. Maybe he can help us catch this guy and keep it from happening again.”

The three walked into the living room and took in the scene. There was another officer sitting in an armchair facing the couch where the partner and son of the victim sat. All that could be seen of them was the tops of their heads, one with short light brown hair, the other with dark curls. They were curled up together, the man holding the small boy in his lap. 

“Oh shit. Colby.” Don turned to face David at his words. “Colby, man, look at me for a second.” Don’s jaw dropped as David rushed past and settled himself on the couch next to Colby who had started sobbing quietly into his son’s hair. David hesitated a moment before placing a comforting hand on his shoulder and giving him a squeeze. 

The Officer stood from her chair and crossed over to Don and Megan. “So I take it they know each other?”

Don cleared his throat. “Yeah, we work together. He’s the fourth member of our team”

The officer seemed surprised by this. “Really? A Fed?” She shook her head, “So I guess you could give me an ID for him then? He hasn’t said a word to us since we got here. He was arguing with the EMTs about going in the ambulance and when they left he just clammed up. Only talks to the kid.”

“His name is Colby Ganger. Did you get an ID of his partner?” He couldn’t take his eyes off of the scene playing out on the couch.

She seemed surprised again. “You don’t know?” At Megan’s quiet ‘He never told us.’ she looked at Colby and the little kid before answering. “Yes, we have the victim’s information. He gave it to the EMTs and the 911 operator and they passed it on to us. His name is Charlie Ellis, he’s six months pregnant.”

“Do we know how bad it is? They just told me that he’s still alive.”

“He was knocked out, bit of a head wound. They got home right as the perp was standing over him with a knife. He had just started cutting apparently, there’s blood on the knife, not a lot though.” She gestured toward the kitchen. 

—————————————

Colby struggled to get his breathing under control. He could feel Simon starting to breathe more quickly, mimicking him; he needed to get himself under control before he freaked Simon out even more. He hugged Simon’s small body close and slowed his breathing as David told him it would be alright. 

Finally he was able to get a full lung of air and keep it up long enough that Simon was able to follow him, his breath coming smoothly as he tucked himself even closer in. Colby finally looked up and over to David who was sitting beside him. 

David smiled in what he hoped was a comforting manner as Colby finally looked over at him, the little boy looking up to, following his dad’s lead. “You gonna be okay now?”

“There was blood David. If we’d been a minute later…”

“Hay, you can’t think like that. You got here in time and he’s going to be alright.”

“You don’t know that! He got hit in the head; he was unconscious, he-” 

“-Colby.” David cut off the frantic stream of worries with a nod to the kid on Colby’s lap. He didn’t need to hear about how his dad might not be okay. Let them explain that if it came to it. Before David could start trying to get his partner talking, maybe get a better idea of what exactly happened, Colby’s cell phone started ringing and he was scrambling to pull it out of his pocket and answer. He listened for a second before murmuring to the person on the other end to give him a second.

Looking down at Simon Colby held the phone against his shoulder. “Simon, sweetheart, I need you to sit with David for a minute. He’s a really good friend of mine and he’ll take good care of you. I promise. Can you do that for me?” Simon nodded just a little and let Colby pick him up so he could stand and settle him back on the couch where he settled in against David’s side with all the trust of a young child who knows he is loved.

Colby was dimly aware that Don and one of the local officers followed him into the kitchen while he talked to the hospital employee. He was Charlie’s medical proxy and emergency contact. They needed him to come in as soon as possible, ideally five minutes ago. When he hung up he turned to Don. “Please, they need me at the hospital, he needs me. I need to go to him.”

Don’s heart broke a little when he heard Colby’s voice crack on the ‘please’. He knew he needed to make sure neither father nor son left their sight until they had been properly questioned, and with Simon that needed to happen soon if they wanted to get any useful information out of the little boy, but he didn’t see any reason why they should keep Colby away from the hospital. “Right. Get the kid’s car seat. I’ll drive you.” The relief on his face broke his heart a little more, as if Colby had been worried that he would say no.

When they finally made their way into the hospital and Colby identified himself at the check in desk they were quickly ushered back, Simon trotting at Colby’s side, little hand in his. Don discreetly showed his badge to the nurse who was leading Colby back and they were allowed to follow along with the two. When they got to a door and stopped there was a resident waiting for them. Don did not like the way she was looking at them, especially Colby; like he was trash.

Colby barely noticed the woman in the white coat standing next to the door. His eyes were all for the figure he could see inside on the bed, hooked up to far too many machines. He had a bandage wrapped around his head and was far paler than he had ever seen him. When he tried to enter the room he finally took note of the woman as she moved to block his way, reeling back in shock when she addressed him with a sneer.

“So you’re his pimp then. You got here pretty fast, you must like the little whore, or maybe you just want to make sure he doesn’t talk.”

Don watched Colby real back as if he had been slapped, then he barely lunged forward in time to catch him at he dove at the woman. Colby didn’t bother to struggle he was so incensed, and Don held him easily.

“Don’t you call him that! Don’t you dare call him that! And don’t you go near him. I don’t want you anywhere near him!” Don held on just in case he started after her again as her lip twisted and she leaned back against the door jam.

“Why? It’s not like it’s a big mystery why a carrier would go in for testing so often.”

“Six years ago! And why should that fucking matter!? You’re a doctor!”

They were interrupted by an older woman in a doctor’s coat who came over from checking one of the machines. “What’s the problem here? Who are you?”

“He’s the pimp.”

“I’m Charlie Ellis’s husband.”

“A carrier marriage isn’t a real marriage.”

The older doctor stared in silence at them for a moment before turning to the younger woman. “You’re out. Go clean out your locker.”

“What!?”

“You heard me at least as well as I heard you.”

“This is ridiculous!”

“Do I have to call security? Because you know I will.”

The younger doctor turned red with rage and made a swift exit down the hall.

The older doctor sighed and turned to Don and Colby, who had finally relaxed his stance, but seemed just as eager to get into the room as he was before. “I’m so sorry about that. It won’t be happening again. My name is Dr. Chen and I am in charge of Charlie Ellis’s care. You must be Colby Granger. And you are?”

Colby leaned down to pick up a clearly shaken Simon, cuddling the boy to him. “This is Simon, our son.”

She turned toward the agents standing around them. 

 

“Don Eppes, FBI. And this is the rest of my team, Agents Sinclair and Reeves ”

“Why don’t you come in Mr. Granger, and…?”

Colby shook his head. “They can come in.”

When they were gathered by the bedside, Colby seated in the chair by Charlie’s head, Simon in his lap, holding his hand gently, the doctor seated herself on the other chair and leaned toward him. “I want to start with saying that things could have been much worse. It doesn’t look like there is going to be any swelling or bleeding in the brain, which is always a concern with blows to the head. He hasn’t regained consciousness yet, but that is because he was drugged, not because of the blow as far as we can tell at this point. We are concerned about the baby.”

Colby took a sharp breath in and shook his head. “No. We can’t lose another one. Not like this.” Don looked over sharply at that. He would have to ask Colby what he meant later. 

“There have been some signs of fetal distress; they don’t seem to be reacting well to the drug. Now, his records show that he is about 28 weeks along, so we might reach a point where it is safer to induce labor and treat the infant in the NICU if the distress continues to worsen. It is something to be prepared for.”

Colby looked about ready to pass out and Simon squirmed as his armies tightened around him.

“We might have to make that decision very soon. We are monitoring the situation very closely.” She gestured to the fetal heart monitor strapped to Charlie’s stomach. Colby’s eyes lingered on the few stitches holding the knife wound shut. It hadn’t been deep luckily. “You need to be ready to make that decision if he doesn’t wake up in time. We will need you to sign the papers.” Colby nodded mutely.

When he doctor had left Simon looked up at Colby. “Dad, what did that lady call you and Daddy? What’s a whore?”

Colby took a deep breath and a moment to think before answering. “Whore is a not nice name for someone who does a certain job some people don’t like them to do. They usually do it because they don’t have any other options. It is hard to do, and it is dangerous, and a lot of people hate them for it for no reason. Do you understand?” 

Simon thought about it for a moment before nodding and asking, “What’s a pimp?”

“A pimp is a very bad person who makes people do things no one should ever be made to do.”

“What things?”

“Grown up things. We can talk about it some time with Daddy, okay? But right now he’s sleeping.” 

Simon nodded, “Okay.”

It was later that night, after statements had been taken and Simon had been put to bed on the recliner in the corner of the room that Charlie finally started to wake up. He was still groggy and disoriented when Dr. Chen made the call that they need to get the baby out. It’s vitals had continued to worsen and they had reached the tipping point of wait and see. Things were not improving as the drugs left Charlie’s system. They couldn't wait any longer for Charlie to recover enough to make the decision himself so Colby signed the papers. 

Forty five minutes later Baby Boy Granger, at two pounds seven ounces, was being rushed into the NICU. Colby watched them go, tasked with keeping Charlie as calm as possible since the doctors couldn’t sedate him while the other drugs were still in his system. It wasn’t long before Charlie fell asleep, exhausted by the fear and stress and having convinced Colby to climb into the bed with him and hold him as he slept, tear tracks still drying on both of their cheeks. 

Every time a nurse came through in the night Colby’s heart stopped until he could get an assurance that nothing had changed in the NICU. Around six am he climbed out of the bed and made his way into the corridor. 

The nurse at the station pointed him toward the NICU and he made his way through the quiet halls to the dimly lit rooms. When he stepped inside he was greeted by the sight of plastic boxes, some covered in blankets to block out the dim light, some decorated with construction paper art. Most had a painfully small baby inside, often hooked up to far too many tubes and wires. An older woman in nurse’s scrubs with little teddy bears on them came over to meet him. Her name tag said Maria on it and her face was kind. 

“Hello, you must be new here, my name is Maria, I’m the head nurse here until two.”

Colby shook the outstretched hand. “Colby Granger, Charlie Ellis is my husband.” He watched to see if her face changed but she looked as kind as when she first walked over.

“How is your husband doing? I heard there was some sort of attack? Should we be worried here about security?”

He shook his head. “Have you seen what’s been in the news about the murders of pregnant carriers?”

She went pale. “Oh god. How did they survive? That’s terrible.”

“My boss sent me home early. When I got home with Simon, our older chilled, we, well Simon really, caught him before he managed to… managed... Simon is three.”

“Oh that poor boy.” She cleared her throat and looked away for a moment. “You must be here to see your baby though. There are a few things we should go over first. There are going to be a lot of wires and tubes and things. I will explain what they are all for, I know it will look scary, but they are all important right now. The doctors decided for now to put him on a ventilator. It’s a precaution because he was starting to have a little bit of trouble. I am afraid you won’t be able to touch him yet, probably not for another week. That will probably be the hardest part; I know it was for me when my eldest came through here.” She gave him a sad little smile. “Now if you will follow me, I can introduce you.”

She led him over to the corner where there was an incubator surrounded by machines and labeled only with a piece of paper that said ‘Baby Boy Granger’ under which sat a folder that was already far too thick. The baby inside was tiny and thin. He was attached to an IV, several sensors and there was a tube going down his throat. Colby’s knees went out from under him and he fell into the chair at the side of the plastic box holding his son and he cried. 

When he finally looked up the nurse was still there. “And I can’t hold him?”

She gave him a sad look and shook her head. “I’m sorry, but not yet.”

Don walked into the conference room that the team had taken over for the duration of the case and took a moment to examine the new photos on the board. Normally they would have been taken off the case after Colby became personally involved, but no one else had wanted to take it on. Colby was obviously off of it, Don had just come from submitting paperwork to put him on emergency family leave, but the rest of the team was still on the case. He sat down at the table where Megan and David were already seated.

“So. We have a description of sorts now. As good as a three year old can give any way. And now we have to worry that he’s been watching us. Targeting Colby’s husband and the man I had been consulting with might have been a coincidence, but maybe not.”

**Author's Note:**

> I love kudos and comments!


End file.
